• Pratim D. Gupta

  • Published: on Jun 19 2008 @ 12:17 pm
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Why Bill never gets Killed

There’s a shot in Kill Bill when The Bride meets Hattori Hanzo in Okinawa to get his steel and learn the art of using a HH sword from him. They do not discuss Bill, another Hanzo associate, but talk about The Bride’s vermin. Vermin of revenge. Finally as part of a guessing game, in quite a lengthy shot Hanzo writes Bill on the glass window with his finger and then walks off. There’s a cut and The Bride comes and wipes off the letters B I L L from the window. She does it in one go, looks at the window and then wipes of the little residue of BILL in the corner.
I can’t get over this shot. Every time I watch Quentin Tarantino’s 4th film, and I have watched it more number of times than MF Hussain has seen Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, I am totally fascinated. If Uma got the wiping wrong, the earlier shot had to be retaken because the finger lettering has to be the same, right? Did she get it wrong and the earlier shot was retaken. How must it have been on the sets? Was Uma under pressure to get it right in the first go? Have there been such twin shots in the past where one shot depended so much on the other shot? The questions boggle my mind every time.
Andre Bazin championed the cause of real cinema, that the film frame is centrifugal and that what you see on that screen, from your iPod to IMAX, is just a part of what is going on outside that frame. There’s more stuff on the right of the frame and to the left and even behind the camera and the whole world out there is a part of that frame. There were Bazin believers like Ozu who had a scene in one of his films where two characters were out of the frame one to the right and the other to the left and they were throwing a ball to each other. So all you got to see is that the rubber ball crossing the frame from one side to the other and you tell yourself, yes there are two people on two sides, yes there is a world outside the frame.
Kill Bill makes me feel that. I can feel that there is a world outside that Robert Richardson frame. I can feel Q standing there and telling U how to swing that sword. I can feel David Carradine in every frame of Volume One while all we get to see of him is his much-wrinkled hand. I can feel Okinawa. I can feel Tokyo. I can feel El Paso. And trust me not all films make me feel that.
What is it about Kill Bill that makes me go back to it every now and then? What is it about a certain film that makes us want to be a part of that world again and again? I came across a guy from Indore who watched Satya every night after dinner for four years. My elder cousin watched Jaan Tere Naam 29 times at a movie hall.
We talk of rewatch value in reviews but what adds up to that value? I believe it’s Bazin! I believe it’s the suspension of disbelief, a primitive form of special fx, where we trust the screen. We BELIEVE it’s happening - not plugging the Shyamalan film, which I couldn’t sit through the very first time - out there. We want to revisit that world the one we left the other night because this world, the one we live in, has got dead again.
I guess this feeling inside is not much different from that silly joke of the dirty ol’ man catching back-to-back shows of a film where a train passes to reveal a woman just finishing her bath. He waits for the train to be late. I wait for Bill to be Killed. But he is alive every time and I always have more unfinished business.

My other Kill Bills

The Big Lebowski (all scenes featuring The Dude and Walter)
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (the road trip)
In the Mood for Love (the set-to-music slo mo passing each other portion)
The Godfather (the whole film)
Sonar Kella (the whole film)
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (everything apart from the final scene)
Talk to Her (the whole film)
Agneepath (first half and last scene, don’t like Madhavi portion)
Pulp Fiction (jules and vincent scenes)
The Throne of Blood (the whole film)
Every second of Kill Bill, including title card

It would be nice to know which film(s) makes you go back to it every now and then?

Filed Under tags Movies, Op-Ed, Thoughts
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43 Responses to “Why Bill never gets Killed”

  1. dabba on June 19th, 2008 3:35 pm

    Oldboy
    Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind
    T2

  2. Tushar on June 19th, 2008 5:13 pm

    No country for old men
    pulp fiction
    there will be blood
    reservoir dogs
    cars
    almost famous

    pata chalega to bata doonga…:-)

  3. Pratim D. Gupta on June 19th, 2008 7:59 pm

    Yes Dabba, Eternal is another film which has to be experienced again and again… From Tushar’s list, I can watch Pulp Fiction again… Keep it coming guys…

  4. Dhananjay Mhatre on June 19th, 2008 9:23 pm

    Andaz Apna Apna
    Sholay
    Pulp Fiction
    Terminator 2
    Rocky-Rocky Balboa too

  5. jay on June 19th, 2008 10:15 pm

    My cousin vinny
    oceans 11
    kung fu hustle
    infernal affairs
    Get Shorty
    jaane bhi do yaaron
    Chashme Badoor
    Angoor
    Golmal
    School of Rock

  6. Arijit on June 19th, 2008 11:43 pm

    kill bill
    rang de basanti
    casablanca
    big trouble in little china
    jaane bhi do yaaron
    sonar kella
    khosla ka ghosla

    there are more but these are the ones that come to mind right now…

  7. Arijit on June 19th, 2008 11:43 pm

    oh yes…

    matrix

  8. PAHARIYA on June 19th, 2008 11:46 pm

    last king of scotland
    no country for old man
    pulp fiction
    choti si baat
    katha
    dil chahta hai (barring akshaye khanna-dimple sequence)
    china town
    taking sides
    life in a metro (barring dharmndra-nafisa ali)

  9. PAHARIYA on June 19th, 2008 11:52 pm

    also
    one flew over cuckoo’s nest
    masoom (i hav watched it over 40 times)
    bazaar(for smita patil and supriya pathak and the song dikhayi diye ki behud kiya)

  10. jay on June 20th, 2008 12:34 am

    Holy Gou !

    How did i miss Chinatown , Mullholand Drive and Three Colours

  11. dazedandconfused on June 20th, 2008 12:55 am

    forrest gump

  12. rudro on June 20th, 2008 1:02 am

    Mullholland drive
    One flew over cuckoos nest
    Amadeus
    Pratidwandi
    Little Miss Sunshine(I have watched the dinner table talk at least 100 times)
    Amarcord
    Black Friday
    Jaane bhi do yaaron

  13. rick on June 20th, 2008 1:28 am

    TAXI DRIVER
    i’ve been watchin that film since i was 16 almost everyday.
    i just cant forget that film.

    btw PRATIM
    now that you mentioned this did anyone feel the same way about the scene in taxi driver when travis bickle calls betsy for the last time and the camera slowly goes out of the room and we only hear bickle talking.

  14. Sarang on June 20th, 2008 2:02 am

    Samurai rebellion
    Sepuku
    Ah! I would like to mention more but I have to go watch these and them write the rest… :)

    Cheers!

  15. Phoenixnu on June 20th, 2008 2:23 am

    fight club
    apocalypse now
    maqbool
    eternal sunshine of spotless mind
    hazaroon khwashein aisi
    swades
    drohkaal
    american history x

  16. DPac on June 20th, 2008 2:53 am

    good bad ugly
    fistful of dollars
    for a few dollars more
    fight club
    casino
    out of africa
    Priyadarshan movies (the woRiginal mallu ones)
    padmarajan movies
    sholay
    true lies
    bmw films
    bond movies

  17. Sourav on June 20th, 2008 3:06 am

    Mulholland Drive
    Jaane bhi do Yaroon
    Motorcycle diaries
    Shawshank..
    Lot many..

  18. Pavan Jha on June 20th, 2008 3:15 am

    During my college time, there was a film which was part of my daily routine (and three cousins of mine) (have seen it more than a 125+ times) for absolutely no reason but Amitabh.. Event today when it comes on TV, I freeze the tv to the specific channel for reliving those days.. not that it was great cinema still shared a great bond with the film..

    The film I can go back to any time, any day and any moment is Anand.. have seen it umpteen times and always enjoyed it much more than before.. JBDY, Satyakam, Ijaazat are a few others in indian cinema.. Modern Times and Fiddler on the roof are two hollywood films that I keep revisitng…

  19. Indraneel on June 20th, 2008 4:02 am

    Satya
    Company
    Shawshank Redemption
    Zodiac (the DVD has been at my bedside since 23.02.08)
    JBDY
    Godfather 2
    Mili
    Trishul
    Nayagan
    Dil Se
    Hera Pheri
    Ek Hasina Thi
    Johnny Gaddar

  20. Tushar on June 20th, 2008 4:08 am

    forrest gump
    black friday
    taxi driver
    no smoking
    slacker
    dirty harry

  21. French on June 20th, 2008 4:14 am

    Jaani Dushman
    Clerk
    Aitraaz
    Rudraksh
    Tarzan 303
    Tarzan-The Wonder Car

  22. Kanhaiya on June 20th, 2008 4:34 am

    not a single entry for Godfather??

  23. Mainak on June 20th, 2008 6:45 am

    Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander

    PULP FICTION
    American Beauty
    TRAINSPOTTING
    Lock Stock & 2 Smocking Barrels
    Taxi Driver
    Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon
    Chashme Baddoor
    Andaz Apna Apna
    Satya
    Full Metal Jacket
    Natural Born Killers

  24. Ritzzz on June 20th, 2008 6:55 am

    Pakeezah
    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
    American Beauty
    Lamhe
    Pulp Fiction
    Naach
    Memento
    The Prestige
    Andaz Apna Apna

  25. Aditya on June 20th, 2008 8:14 am

    Golmal (old one)
    Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
    Chupke Chupke
    Lord of the Rings Trilogy
    Lamhe
    Pulp Fiction
    Mughal-e-aazam
    Kohinoor
    Pyaasa
    Jaani Dushman (1978)
    Ijaazat
    Sholay

  26. Tejas on June 20th, 2008 8:14 am

    The Good, the bad and the Ugly trilogy
    LOTR Trilogy - couple of lovers of this trilogy used to have watching sessions every month on a Friday or Saturday night.
    Eternal Sunshine..
    Aawara Paagal Deewana after Paresh Rawal is introduced in the movie
    Pulp Fiction
    Shawshank..
    Pran Jaaye par Shaan Na Jaaye - Now, why is THIS movie not a cult classic? I rarely see it mentioned on PFC..huh..Filmy, very Filmy!!
    Fight club..
    Hera Pheri
    And did I mention that p0rn movie on repeat yet!! :D

  27. Guru on June 20th, 2008 8:36 am

    Sujata
    Madhumati
    Andaaz (old one)
    Manorma
    HKA
    Jane Bhi Do Yaaron
    Breakfast at Tiffany’s
    Roman Holiday

  28. French on June 20th, 2008 8:47 am

    Breathless
    Once Upon A Time In America
    Barry Lyndon
    Apocalypse Now
    The 400 Blows
    Vertigo
    Goodfellas
    Rosetta
    Lives of Others
    Dil Se
    Dead Man
    City of God
    Kitab
    Mausam
    Anand
    Sholay

  29. Pratim D. Gupta on June 20th, 2008 8:54 am

    Kundan Shah take a bow! You may be a one-film wonder but what a film! It’s almost on every second list…

  30. Pavan Jha on June 20th, 2008 9:40 am

    “During my college time, there was a film which was part of my daily routine (and three cousins of mine) (have seen it more than a 125+ times) for absolutely no reason but Amitabh.. Event today when it comes on TV, I freeze the tv to the specific channel for reliving those days.. not that it was great cinema still shared a great bond with the film..”

    Seems I missed to name the film.. thats AGNIPATH

  31. BD on June 20th, 2008 10:20 am

    * Golmal
    * Angoor
    * Anand
    * JBDY
    * Lion King
    * Bees Saal Baad (Old)
    * Padosan
    * Jewel Thief
    * Shrek
    * Aandhi

  32. Pratim D. Gupta on June 20th, 2008 10:45 am

    Hey Pavan, I completely agree with you on Agneepath… But what I find very intriguing is some of the other choices by some of the other friends here… Why would someone keep revisiting City of God? It’s a great film but isn’t it a difficult film to keep watching again and again? French you want to answer that? Love Mainak’s list… Tushar, you keep going back to No Smoking? Which parts? Ritzz was that slip of the keyboard - Naach?????

  33. shridhar r on June 20th, 2008 11:06 am

    Interesting topic!

    Chungking Express
    North by North West
    Shaolin Soccer/Kung Fu Hustle
    City on Fire
    Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade
    The Wall
    Pirates of the Caribbean
    Shakti (Ramesh Sippy)
    Sholay
    Johnny Mera Naam
    Tere Mere Sapne (Vijay Anand)
    Finding Nemo
    Once upon a time in America
    Once upon a time in the West
    Nayakan
    Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
    Naseeb (actually lots of Manmohan Desai!)
    Wages of Fear
    Asphalt Jungle
    Indian (Shankar)
    Rififi
    Hathyar (JP Dutta)
    Kill Bill 1 and 2
    Darkness in Tallinn
    Millers Crossing
    Blue

    For starters:)
    Cheers
    Shridhar

  34. shridhar r on June 20th, 2008 11:08 am

    One more outstanding movie i totally forgot….
    Beautiful Girls (Ted Demme I think — Uma thurman, Matt Dillon, Tim Hutton, Mira Sorvino)…. seen it 20-30 times…. and also a fabulous soundtrack)

  35. tushar on June 20th, 2008 1:15 pm

    Chashme baddoor
    Jaane bhi do yaaron
    Andaz apna apna
    Chameli ki shaadi
    Naach(which parts? What do you mean by ‘parts’!)
    Awaara pagal deewana(minus the stupid songs and melodrama)
    The Big Lebowski

    As for the no smoking question, I have gone back to the first hour 2-3 times. And then I go back to some sequences. Which one might do in revisiting films. I mean even in all other films, I don’t sit and watch the whole thing from scratch to finish.

  36. Dhananjay Mhatre on June 20th, 2008 10:57 pm

    More…
    Gunda (Has anyone seen this masterpiece??)
    LOTR (how did i miss it last time?)
    Sin City
    Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
    Chupke Chupke
    Golmaal
    The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

  37. harneet on June 20th, 2008 11:56 pm

    Andaaz Apna Apna
    Maine Pyar Kiya
    Golmaal
    Angoor
    Ijaazat
    Lage Raho Munnabhai
    Sound of Music
    The Philadelphia Story
    Love Actually
    Chupke Chupke
    Padosan
    Before Sunrise
    Before Sunset

  38. kcp on June 22nd, 2008 9:04 am

    Fantastic list from everybody. I am surprised that one of my all time “go_back” English movie was not mentioned by anybody : Truman Show. I think that the acting, script, direction, dialogues, etc is just fantastic. I “ALWAYS” finds new things in the movie everytime I see it. I make it a point to keep a a few original DVD’s (copies) for the movies I love.
    Regarding Hindi, I love many Amitabh movies and “ALL” Kishore movies. I ALWAYS find some new “ada” in their acting, somewhere in the movie.

    kcp

  39. satya on June 22nd, 2008 9:33 am

    Sholay
    Cinderella Man
    Bemisaal
    Mili
    Umbartha(Marathi)
    Sleepless in Sattle
    Shakti(Actually, many more Amitabh movies such as Kaala Patthar, Trishul, Jurmana, Alap, NAmak Haram, Main Azad Hun and so on)
    Shawshank Redemption
    Devdas(Dilip Kumar)
    Jogan(for sheer chemistry between DK and NArgis)
    Party
    New Delhi Times

  40. vivek on June 24th, 2008 3:29 am

    Borat
    the prestige
    and all lynch films

  41. pranay on July 5th, 2008 12:31 am

    My friends say that i can watch ant movie any number of times..I have been ‘caught’ so to say in my hostel watchin pretty inane stuff over and over again..but my list of rewatches is…
    1)omkara
    2)maqbool….both the shakespearen tales told by bharadwaj are just amazing
    3)matrix series…call me a nerd..
    4)bourne series….”bourne makes bond look like a sissy”
    5)love actually
    6)life in a metro…amazing coming together of stories
    7)Sholay…wat can i say

  42. Jahan Bakshi on July 9th, 2008 5:24 am

    Khosla Ka Ghosla

  43. Jahan Bakshi on July 9th, 2008 5:25 am

    Pulp Fiction… right on top, of course

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